Three Mizoram’s districts – Aizawl, Kolasib and Mamit – share a 164.6-km long boundary with Assam’s Hailakandi, Karimganj and Cachar districts.
In the latest effort to solve their boundary disputes, Assam and Mizoram held a ministerial-level meeting earlier this week. Going forward, chief ministers of the two neighbouring states – Himanta Biswa Sarma and Zoramthanga — are likely to hold talks in Delhi later this month or early September.
It is largely in poorly-demarcated areas where clashes take place. The July 2021 border clash was also a result of conflicting territorial claims that have persisted for over two decades. Similar incidents of violence were reported in 1994, 2007, March 2018, and October 2020 as well.
As Zoramthanga said, the dispute cannot be resolved overnight or at one go given it dates back to the time when Mizoram was carved out of Assam and became a Union Territory and then a separate state in 1986.
The same problem persists between Assam and three other states — Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Nagaland which were also once part of Assam. Two suits have been pending in the Supreme Court since the 1980s.
Notwithstanding the legal complications, Assam CM Sarma and his Arunachal counterpart Pema Khandu last month signed what is officially called the ‘Namsai Declaration’ to end a decades-old boundary conflict, which had its origin in the Inner Line regulation introduced by the colonial regime in 1873.
The British had divided the hills and plains with this mechanism in the erstwhile North East Frontier Tracts. This became the North East Frontier Agency (NEFA) after Independence but continued to remain under the administrative control of Assam. NEFA was renamed as Arunachal Pradesh and became a Union Territory in 1972 and a full-fledged state in 1987. So, one could imagine how complicated the separation of this state from Assam was.
The two states share an 804.1 km-long border. The grievance of Arunachal Pradesh is that several forested tracts in the plains that had traditionally belonged to hill tribal chiefs and communities were unilaterally transferred to Assam.
In 1987, a tripartite committee was appointed which recommended that certain territories be transferred from Assam to Arunachal. The former contested this and the matter went to the Supreme Court.
According to the Namsai Declaration, the number of disputed villages will now be minimised to 86 from the earlier figure of 123. It also says 28 of the 123 disputed villages “which are within the constitutional boundary of Arunachal Pradesh” will remain with the easternmost state while three will be with Assam.
Besides, six more villages, which “couldn’t be located on the Assam side” and if they are found to be present on Arunachal’s side, will continue to be part of the latter.
If such an out-of-court mechanism works between Assam and Arunachal, this could motivate Mizoram and Meghalaya to take a similar approach although each dispute is distinct from the other. Be that as it may, a long-term solution is the need of the hour.
‘Har Gaon’ Naga flag!
The United Naga Council (UNC), the apex body of Naga tribes in Manipur, recently issued a directive that each village under its jurisdiction should hoist the ‘Naga National Flag’ on August 14, local media reported.
It was Naga National Council (NNC) leader Angami Zapu Phizo who declared the independence of Naga inhabited areas on August 14, 1947. Since then, the Nagas have been observing August 14 as their independence day. The NNC is the parent organisation of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland or NSCN, which has several factions at present.
In a statement, the UNC said the decision was taken following the seventh remembrance program of the historic framework agreement signed between the Government of India and NSCN on August 3, 2015.
“As you are aware of the sanctity of our National Flag, we direct you to accord the highest honour and respect it deserved as always while hoisting the same since it is the most revered symbol of our oneness and guiding light of our way forward as a Nation,” according to the statement quoted by Ukhrul Times.
Meanwhile, Nagaland chief minister Neiphiu Rio on Friday urged Nagas to actively participate in the special celebrations to mark 75 years of Indian Independence and hoist the national flag at their homes.
The UNC directive assumes significance in the light of the current impasse in the Naga peace process. The NSCN (I-M) insists on a separate flag and a constitution, a demand which is unlikely to pass muster with the BJP-led central government. Nevertheless, the rebel group made its position clear at an “emergency meeting” at its camp near Dimapur on May 31.
“How can we forfeit the Naga national flag and Naga constitution in the name of Naga political solution?” said NSCN(IM) chairman Q Tuccu. “What belongs to us that defines our political identity can never be compromised for the sweet morsel in the name of Naga political settlement. We cannot be made a laughing stock before the world by tamely succumbing to pressure or temptation.”
Last year, UNC had called for a 24-hour shutdown in all Naga areas effective August 14 in protest against the Manipur government’s order asking all village chiefs to hoist the Indian national flags.